


The Things We Do For Love

by YaGirlJuniper



Series: Juniper's Touhou Fan Canon [5]
Category: Touhou Project
Genre: ADHD, Apologies, Arguing, Autism, Body Type Headcanons, Characters Playing Pokemon, Crying, Cuddling & Snuggling, Devotion, Dorks in Love, Established Relationship, F/F, Flirting, Gender Dysphoria, Girls Kissing, Hugs, Hurt/Comfort, Laughter, Long-Term Relationship(s), Marisa is Fat, Mistakes, Pokemon, Reimu is Brown, Reimu is Muscular, Secrets, Skin Color Headcanons, Transgender, Video & Computer Games, Worry
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-31
Updated: 2020-08-04
Packaged: 2021-03-06 05:54:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,748
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25628554
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YaGirlJuniper/pseuds/YaGirlJuniper
Summary: After their last encounter with a video game left them with a bit of a funky taste in their mouth, Sanae introduces Reimu and Marisa to something a bit more innocent but still relatively classic: Pokémon! Unfortunately, while Marisa is excited to start, playing as a boy in a video game isn’t as easy for her as it is for cis girls, and her own gender dysphoria leads to her missing out on things she'd otherwise enjoy. Reimu is determined to fix that for her, but sometimes you just don’t have a choice…The full fanfic is a late submission for Day 3 of Touhou Ship Week: Secrets/Devotion!
Relationships: Hakurei Reimu/Kirisame Marisa
Series: Juniper's Touhou Fan Canon [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1320842
Kudos: 18
Collections: Touhou Ship Week





	1. Their Oblivious Best Friend

Sanae practically sparkled as she bounced at the table. “Hey! I heard you two got into video games!”

Reimu glowered with her eyes half-open. “If this is a scam to get us to go to your shrine and put coins in a machine, we’re not buying it.”

Marisa smiled brightly and turned to her. “Now now, Reimu, just ‘cuz _you_ wanted to—"

Reimu’s finger was already waiting in front of her lips. “Shhhhhhhhh.” Her mouth was grinning but her eyes were _scowling._

Marisa grinned as if she’d been tickled. “Shame it didn’ work out ‘cuz the game was too sca—”

“SHHHHHHH.” Nothing changed about Reimu’s expression but her eyes, which exploded into wild flames that spread like a gasoline fire.

“Hahahahahahaha!” Marisa laughed, resting her head on the table atop her folded arms and sighing with a fluttery, lighthearted smile on her face, closing her eyes and blushing comfortably. Reimu forcefully nudged Marisa’s chubby cheek with a folded finger, and Marisa peeked at her out of the side of her eye with a smirk.

Sanae cheerily waved off her concerns. “It’s nothing like that. I just want someone else to know what I’m talking about when I bring this up from here on out. It meant a lot to me growing up.” She rummaged through a shoulder bag she’d brought with her. “I’m so sad I never get to share this with anyone, and now that they started showing up in Kourindou, I will!” She glanced to them. “In fact, I’ll be giving them away for free!”

“Free!” Reimu leaned over the table toward her, sliding on her elbows. “Go on…” An interested smirk slowly curled at the side of her lip.

Marisa drowsily watched Reimu’s triceps ripple as she slid along the table, her loosely-tied sleeves sliding down as she went, soft white fabric giving way to toffee-colored muscle.

Sanae took out an old video game magazine. “It’s called Pocket Monsters, or as it’s better known, Pokémon!”

Reimu’s gears were still turning as a sly open-mouthed smirk widened, suddenly jolting away as concern leaped to the front. “This game isn’t going to try to eat me, is it?” The dour frown returned.

Sanae waved that off with a smile. “No, no! It’s like collecting little pets. They’re not like _scary_ monsters, they’re cute!”

Brow furrowed, Reimu lightly nodded. She turned an inch toward Marisa. “ _You’re_ awfully quiet. Don’t you like free stuff and collecting more than I do?”

Sanae beamed. “I think _her_ mind’s somewhere else.”

Reimu leaned in and tilted her head, then spun to her right just in time to catch the back of Marisa’s hand about to stroke against her arm. Marisa’s eyes popped as they made contact, then she bat her lashes and innocently smiled. Reimu bore a scowling smirk. “Thinking of your favorite flavor of ramen again, I see.”

Marisa winked. “That’s chicken, not beef.”

Straightening out, Reimu hissed in her throat and snarled with her eyes rolling up as Marisa let out a quiet and raspy but squeaky giggle.

Sanae looked very confused. “…are we having lunch soon?”

“No, we just ate.” Reimu turned to Marisa. “What beef thing was your favorite again?”

Marisa leaned forward herself, brushing up against Reimu, who reactionlessly settled against the soft warmth at her side. “Korean BBQ.”

Reimu dabbed her finger in front of her. _“That’s_ right!” She turned to her again. “But that’s the only good one.”

Marisa turned her palms over as if to shrug, bobbing her head once to nod. “Right.”

The two of them giggled and leaned playfully against each other.

Sanae’s brow furrowed with concern, and her mind began to wander. Her thoughts were plastered all over her face. _“Is Marisa hungry again already…?”_

Glowering, Reimu loudly cleared her throat. **“AHEM.”**

Sanae jolted. “Huh-? Uh, anyway!” Sanae opened the magazine and hid behind it as she flipped through the pages.

Marisa snuggled her head against Reimu’s shoulder like a happy cat, her shaggy blonde curls fluffing all over, and while Reimu forwardly continued to glower, she rubbed Marisa’s back along her shoulders through her thick, messy curls.

Sanae stopped on a page. “Here we go!” Reimu and Marisa returned to their neutral positions, still brushed up against each other as Sanae laid the magazine down on the table. “This is Pikachu! It’s like the mascot! Isn’t he so cute?”

Marisa puffed an emotionless chuckle. “Heh. It’s like a stuffed animal.”

Reimu smiled at the little yellow mouse. “She kinda reminds me of you.”

Marisa blushed affrontedly, taken aback. “I’m sorry?”

 _“What!?_ Are you seriously offended?” Reimu incredulously gestured at the page, smiling but taken completely by surprise.

Marisa nodded disbelievingly, glancing away. “Yeah, _okay_ , I know what you’re thinkin’.”

Reimu smiled adoringly at the picture. “She’s so small, and blonde, and cute…”

Marisa blushed, frown loosening. _“…and tubby…”_

Reimu prodded the Pikachu’s cheeks. “and she has round little rosy cheeks…”

Marisa's cheeks turned so red she might as well have been a Pikachu.

Reimu pointed to Marisa. “Yeah, like that!”

Marisa covered her face as her entire body turned pink and Reimu giggled and hugged her, excitedly rocking back and forth.

Sanae snickered into a hooked finger. “She looks more like a Slowpoke now!”

Still in the hug, the two of them turned to her with bewildered expressions, cheek-to-cheek. “A wha?”

Sanae turned the page. “Oh, well, there’s a lot them! There’s 151 of them in gen one and one of the goals is to catch them all.”

Reimu let go as she felt Marisa lean in, and as Marisa reached the magazine, she quickly scanned down the page. “I _love_ collecting stuff. Are there mushrooms?”

Sanae happily put her hands together. “Yep! Theeere’s mushroom Pokémon!” She pointed to Paras.

Marisa pumped her fist triumphantly. “Yes!”

Sanae pointed to Staryu and Starmie. “There’s stars too!”

Marisa leaped to her feet and jumped for joy. “EE ** _YES!!”_**

Reimu smiled warmly at Marisa with her cheek resting in her palm.

“Eh, sort of.” One eye closed, Sanae rocked her hand like a boat. “Gen one’s kinda in a gray area on that.”

“Don’t care, I’m in!” Marisa happily power-walked through all the rooms in Reimu’s house, humming with a jolly spring in her step.

Reimu puffed wind from her nose with a lighthearted smile. When Marisa got excited, she’d have to burn it all off by running around, walking, dancing, playing, or doing something active. When she heard Marisa start washing the dishes, she knew she must have been bursting to try it.

Sanae spoke up. “Reimu? Do you wanna play?”

Reimu jolted to attention. “Hm-? Oh, uh… is there any way we can play together?”

Sanae’s face squeezed as she thought of how to word this, loosening up with a shrug. “Wwwwwell, we won’t be playing together at all times or anything,” she settled and smiled, “but we can certainly battle and trade with each other!”

Reimu blinked so she could throw her eyes open in surprise, leaning in. A wide grin opened, her brassy voice blaring at uncomfortable volume. **“You never said anything about doing _battle!”_**

Sanae grinned. “My mistake. It _is_ a big part of the game, it’s probably _most_ of what you do actually.”

Nodding and smirking competitively, Reimu’s purr lilted. “mMMm~ okay.”

Marisa plopped down next to her again, leaning up against her and smiling at her expectantly, and Reimu returned her gesture with a pleasant smile of her own. Reimu sighed as though she were making a tough decision, but she was still smiling all the while. “Okay, I guess I can try it…”

Marisa blushed and giggled into a balled hand beside her chin. _“Khnk-khnk-khnk-khnk-khnk!”_


	2. Like Less of a Girl

Marisa frowned nervously at the thing on the table, a gray brick of a system with the words “GAME BOY” on the front. She hadn’t even touched it yet, hands fidgeting with the frills of her apron in her lap.

“Now don’t forget to save your game!” Sanae said. “Press the Start button to bring up the menu…”

Marisa shyly looked over to the two other girls, sitting next to each other, Sanae peeking over Reimu’s shoulder as she walked her through everything. Marisa had listened to her instructions and understood, but… she still hadn’t touched it yet. She just kept fidgeting and wondering if it wouldn’t be so bad after all, but every time she tried to reach for it, that lump in her throat… it just kept choking her, and she’d put her hands back in her lap and fidget some more.

Sanae looked at her. “Marisa?”

Marisa jumped and snatched up the system. She felt so uncomfortable holding it in her hand. It felt _gross. Disgusting._ All wrong. That feeling sank into the pit of her stomach and trickled up her spine.

Sanae tilted her head. “Have you really not even started yet?"

Marisa's thumbnail slid through the gap in the plastic. "Well—"

She leaned forward. "Are your batteries dead? Do you need some help?”

Marisa hastily backed away and nervously stammered. “No, no, I—I get it, you flip the switch, it’s just…” Her heart was thumping against her chest. “ _If I tell her what’s wrong she’s gonna clock me. What if she asks me? I can’t tell ‘er! I barely trusted Reimu with this!”_

Reimu glanced up from her game and watched the two of them intently.

Sanae tilted her head innocently. “So what’s wrong, then?”

Marisa’s entire body squirmed as she dug inside herself to pull out the words. “W—why’s it called Game _Boy?”_

Sanae tipped back with bewildered confusion then burst into laughter. “AHAHAHAHAHAHA!”

Marisa sank with shame, head turning down and eyes closing. She looked about to cry. Reimu furiously seethed at Sanae from behind her Game Boy, plastic creaking under the force of her grip.

Sanae shook her head with her hand on her face. “Marisa, you don’t have to be a boy to _use_ one!”

Distressed, Marisa threw her hands out over the table. “I KNOW, BUT— _WHY!?_ Why call it that!?”

“I can explain!” Sanae raised a finger, her sprout-like hair tufts wiggling as she sat straight up. “The Sony Corporation found financial success from their portable cassette player, the Walkman. The Nintendo Company wanted to get in on that branding scheme, so they named their handheld gaming system the Game Boy.”

Marisa anxiously shouted, “So _they_ did it because somebody else did it _too!?_ That doesn’t make it okay! That’s just two mistakes!”

Sweat started to collect on Sanae’s face as she fearfully leaned away, braced by one arm and shielding with the other. “Why are you so upset?? It’s not—”

Marisa clenched her fists and knelt as tall as she could on her knees. “It _matters_ to me, okay!?”

Reimu gasped in a breath. “Well—”

The other girls looked at her. Marisa glared as though betrayed, as though expecting Reimu to disappoint her.

Reimu gestured to the handheld. “Maybe _these_ things are the boys.”

Marisa and Sanae stared at her. Marisa turned away with a smile, pinching a bit of her lips from the front.

“It’s not called a Game _for_ Boy, it’s a Game Boy. So maybe these things—” Reimu shrugged. “I dunno, is it still a problem?”

Marisa started to giggle. _“Khnk-khnk-khnk-khnk-khnk-khnk!”_

Sanae beamed. “Oh, Reimu.”

Marisa nodded. “Y’know what? That makes sense. I’ll buy that.” The anxiety lifted off of her and she switched on the Game Boy.

Reimu smiled and looked at her screen, shaking her head, each press of a button met with the telltale _bring_ _♪_ that remained throughout the series. Then suddenly, Reimu sat up. “Wait—! Oh no.”

Marisa started to worry again. “What is it?”

Reimu waved her hand. “N’—hold on.” She turned to Sanae. “I don’t remember being given the choice to play as a girl, is there a way to do that?”

“Oh…” Sanae’s smile squished as she tried to let the news out gently, “…no, it was the ‘90s, the hardware is really limited, and…”

“No??” Marisa’s heart sank again, smile washed away with disappointment.

Sanae sighed apologetically. “You couldn’t be a girl until Crystal in Gen Two. I’m sorry.”

Marisa caught the end of the opening cutscene just in time to see the title screen, complete with the boy the game expected you to be, and she shut the Game Boy off again and dropped it face-down on the table, the frayed blue cartridge standing out against the gray. “Pass.”

Mouth open, Reimu quietly gasped with a devastated frown.

Marisa dropped to the table atop her folded arms and sulked.

Sanae guiltily frowned. “I guess it never bothered me that much.” After a short pause, she shook her head. “Well, it did, I guess I just got so used to that kind of disappointment growing up that it felt normal.”

Reimu’s brow wrinkled with stress. “Is there no way you could get one of those? She really wanted to play.”

Sanae dropped an arm on the table. “Well, Kourindou had _three_ of the games, but the hardware…” She flipped her palm over. “Like I said, it’s really limited. The only ones I could find in the shop were old gray-brick Game Boys, and Crystal _needs_ a Game Boy Color, the next gen up. Gold and Silver you could play just fine on a Game Boy, but…” she shook her head, “not Crystal.”

Marisa closed her eyes and sighed.

Sanae turned back to Reimu with a happy smile. “So what did you name your rival?”

Reimu shook her head, limply dropping her hand. “I don’t remember. I didn’t really bother naming them anything, it was one of the defaults, like a color or something.”

Sanae beamed. “It was probably Green, since you have a red version.”

Reimu lightly nodded. “Mm. Maybe. I can’t remember.”

Sanae giggled. “I’m surprised you didn’t name him Marisa!”

A twinge struck Marisa’s brow and pierced her heart, and she sank deeper into her arms on the table. Her whole body felt like it was drowning under an ocean of despair.

Reimu cocked an eyebrow. “Why would I name them Marisa?”

Sanae snorted with a one-handed shrug. “Because she’s your rival?”

Reimu’s hands parted to protest. “But she’s a _girl!_ And she lives alone in the woods, she’s not some entitled rich douchebag like _this_ asshole. The rival in this game is nothing like her.”

Marisa halfheartedly smiled, but it faded with a sigh, memories of her old past racing through her mind. _“Only ‘cuz I ran away from it…”_

Sanae shrugged. “She acts boyish enough.”

Marisa’s forehead dropped against her forearm.

Reimu flung her arms up. “How!?”

Sanae swept her hand in Marisa’s direction. “Have you _listened_ to the way she talks?”

Marisa sorrowful breath poured out into the well in her arms she’d dug herself into.

Reimu put her Game Boy down and leaned over the table on her hands. “Are you _kidding_ me? Girls talk like that too!”

Sanae nodded with a smirk. “Yeah, girls like _Marisa.”_

Marisa whimpered.

Electrifying rage bolted through Reimu’s eyes, and her face contorted as if being shocked by it all as she failed to find the words. She raised her clenched fists above her head and swung them down at the table as hard as she could.

**_WHAM!!_ **

Sanae and Marisa both jumped back, the Game Boys bounced, and the birds outside flew out of the trees. Reimu trembled as she seethed, shoulders rising and falling with each forceful breath, ruby eyes burning like white-hot iron that left a trail of blinding light as it moved through one’s vision.

Sanae shivered, cowering in terror, screaming as Reimu reached for her collar and yanked her toward her face. “AAH-!” Sanae closed her eyes.

Reimu roared, **“MARISA! IS! A! GIRL! THAT** **_MEANS_ GIRLS TALK LIKE THAT TOO! _NO!! QUALIFIERS!! NECESSARY!!”_**

Sanae tearfully tried to pull away. “I didn’t _say_ she wasn’t a girl, I—!”

Reimu waved her hand in her face in a frenzy. **“AH-AH-AH-AH-AH _SHUT UP!_ YOU ACTED LIKE SHE WAS _LESS_ OF A GIRL THOUGH, DIDN’T YOU!? _”_**

Sanae’s eyes flung open in horror. “…I—”

**_“DIDN’T_ YOU!?”**

Marisa covered her mouth, tears beading in her eyes. She painfully wheezed in a sniffle and whimpered it out, and the girls looked to her and saw her crying. Reimu dropped Sanae and got up, walking around the table to Marisa’s side. She knelt down and opened her arms for a hug, and Marisa jumped in. The floodgates broken, Marisa sobbed and wailed into her shoulder with her eyes shut tight.

Sanae began to tear up too. “I didn’t think—”

Reimu sternly frowned. “She could barely pick up the damn Game Boy, why did you think she’d be okay with _that?”_

Sanae sank, tears sliding down her face. “I’ll just go, I’m sorry.” She got up and walked toward the door.

Marisa looked up, voice croaking through her anguish. “It’s okay, Sanae, you didn’t mean it, I forgive you…”

Sanae’s face wrenched with guilt, lips pulling apart, and she ran out the door, tears squeezing through her eyelids. “I’m sorry, Marisa…!”

Marisa tearfully shouted after her, “It’s okay, I forgive you!”

The last they heard of Sanae was her sobs fading off into the distance. Reimu looked off in that direction with a twinge of guilt in her own eyes. “Maybe I went off too hard on her…”

Marisa sniffled. “Maybe, but… I’m still glad you stood up for me like that.”

Reimu rubbed her back. “You okay?”

Marisa nodded. “Yeah, I’m fine, I’m not crying cuz I’m upset, I’m _happy._ Well… I’m not happy that Sanae ran away, I just didn’t know how much that’d mean to me, so it was…” She sniffled. “I got overwhelmed. I’ll be fine. That was amazing. Thank you.” She settled against Reimu’s shoulder. “You get it. You showed me that you get it. You have no idea how much that means to me.”

Reimu smiled. “I’ll never let anyone do that to you, Marisa.”

Marisa’s tears started flowing again and she tightened her hug with a long, stretched-out sobbing whimper. “I love you…!”

Reimu hugged her tightly. “I love you too.”


	3. Burning the Midday Oil

Smiling with her broom in hand, Marisa marched up the steps to Hakurei Shrine. “Well, I can’t enjoy the game myself, but that doesn’t mean I can’t hang out with Reimu and watch ‘er play.”

She smiled as she reached the top and passed under the torii gate, taking a full breath of air atop the hill. So practiced was she at this climb that her legs weren’t even tired. She sparkled as she exhaled and began to march again. “Never push yourself so hard that it hurts, but don’t be tempted to skip your workouts! That’s what I always say.” She wasn’t speaking to anyone in particular, she just liked to imagine she had an invisible audience to listen to her when her passions lit up her mind. “It’s important to use your legs even once you can fly, and even if you’re a little heavy or even a lot, don’t give up. It’s important to stay active! Never forget, your health is not measured by how slim you are.”

Finishing her speech to herself, she awoke to the fact that something was missing. She stopped with a worried frown. “It’s noon. She’s usually sweeping right about now an’ I don’t hear anything…” She paused for just a second, then closed her eyes and smiled. “I think I know what’s goin’ on.” She marched past the shrine and straight to the living space, and as the tinny Game Boy music tickled her ears, her pearly teeth unsheathed in a grin. “Yyyup! I knew it.”

…except something was still missing. “Hang on. I don’t hear her pressing buttons. That game dings every time y’do it.” Her eyes flung wide open and her thoughts began to race. “Maybe she put it down to go make something to eat, or…” her eyes jittered as they widened even further, and she began to sweat, **“…or maybe something’s _preventing_ her from playing!”**

Another sound was cutting just under the music, and in Marisa’s intensified focus, she finally heard it. _“snzzzzzzzzzz…hhhhhhhhhhh…”_

Marisa’s breath rushed out as she relaxed with a hand over her heart, smile spreading again. “Oh. She’s just asleep.” She marched again. “Well, I was _technically_ right. The best kind o’ right! Seriously, though.” She stopped again. “Wait, if that thing’s still on, then she must’ve fallen asleep in the middle of playing! She’s forgetful, so maybe she didn’t save ‘er game! Those batteries don’t last forever!”

Marisa ran up to the house, dropped her broom, then kicked her shoes off and leaped onto the veranda, swinging the door aside with urgency, holding it just before it reached the end of its slider, then tossing off her hat like a frisbee that landed right next to her usual spot at the table. Light from outside bled in enough to comfortably illuminate the room. The snoozing maiden had fallen asleep in her futon wearing her usual day clothes, sleeves and hair decorations removed and neatly folded beside her next to an empty plate of what must have once been _senbei_ crackers. _“She never goes to sleep in that. She must’ve not even gone to sleep last night.”_ Marisa lifted her skirt so its frills didn’t tickle Reimu as she stepped over her, then she picked up the game boy lying in Reimu’s limp and open hand. “ _Now let’s see, ‘press the start button to open the menu…’”_ She pressed Start and the menu popped up. _“There it is, I see a Save option.”_ She seemed to understand it intuitively enough to know which buttons to press.

“Saving, don’t turn off the power…”

Marisa tapped her heel on the floor as she stared at it impatiently. _“Don’t die on me now.”_

It jingled at her. “Game saved.”

Marisa sighed with relief. _“Made it.”_ The game hadn’t turned off on its own yet after all, so Marisa started to wonder… and her pouting lips spread into a smile. _“Eh, I’m sure she wouldn’t mind if I took a little peek at ‘er team.”_ She popped open Reimu’s Pokémon menu and scanned down the list. She had her starting Bulbasaur and a bunch of common early-level Pokémon, most of which were barely higher than the level she’d caught them at, and none of which were nicknamed apart from one at the bottom of the list named Marisa.

Marisa gasped. _“Wait… did she…”_ She smiled with anticipation. _“Oh my gosh, she didn’t!”_ Marisa scrolled down to her namesake and checked it.

 _“snzzzk…”_ Reimu rolled over in her sleep, lips smacking as she settled onto her side. _“snzzzzzzzzzz”_

Gaping at the screen, Marisa blushed. It was a Pikachu, and its low HP suggested it had probably just been caught. Marisa twinged and quietly laughed out a breath that scraped the roof of her mouth, then emotionally hugged the Game Boy. _“I knew it… she must’ve stayed up all night tryin’a catch one…”_ She turned to Reimu with a hand over her heart, and whispered, “I love you.”

_“snzzzzzzzzzz…hhhhhhhhhhh…”_

Marisa snickered to herself with a grin that bared her prominent canine.

The tinny music suddenly cut with a gentle pop. Marisa pulled the Game Boy back and saw its LCD screen washing away, its batteries having died just moments ago. She stared, then sighed with satisfaction, proud of herself for having treated it as urgently as she had. “I know this girl like the back o’ my hand.” She looked at the back of her hand, then rubbed her ring finger with her thumb. She blushed and puffed out a quiet laugh. _“Well, I shouldn’t get ahead of myself, but…”_ she dreamily sighed, eyes sliding shut as she held her own cheek, _“I wouldn’t say no, I tell ya.”_

Her eyes opened and she hardened with purpose. “I’m _starving_ , I should make lunch. She’ll probably be hungry when she wakes up too.” She popped open the Game Boy’s battery cover. “Might as well get a few other things done while I’m at it.” She walked into the kitchen, extracting the batteries one at a time. “Wonder if I could use these little scraps in my magic. They’d just be toxic waste otherwise.” She dumped them into her pocket. “I’ll brainstorm while I’m cookin’ the rice. I’m not makin’ a mess with these in ‘er kitchen, who knows what’ll happen? I’ll need my gear to safely open ‘em up and see.”

Some time later, Reimu stirred as the sun shone directly in her face, and as her eyes cracked open, she shut them again and shielded them with her arm. “Mmh, I fell asleep.” She smacked her lips with a sour grimace. “It’s so hot. I’m parched.” She sat up with one eye closed, face turned away from the sun as it peeked through the open door. “The door’s wide open. Marisa must be here already.” She yawned, stretching her arms above her head, then relaxing and rubbing her eyes, drowsily mumbling, “I feel like I’m forgetting something for some reason…”

Reimu turned and looked listlessly at the Game Boy beside her. She stared at it, wondering why it felt so important to what she was trying to figure out, and as she blinked, her gaze broke as her entire body suddenly lurched with shock and horror. She covered her eyes, nails digging into her face. **_“I FORGOT TO SAVE MY GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAME!!”_**

Leaning beside the doorway in the adjacent kitchen, Marisa smirked and picked the last slice of her orange off its peel, peeking from the corners of her eyes. _“Like the back o’ my hand I tell ya.”_ She flicked the orange slice off of her thumb into her mouth and smugly chewed. Her eyes drew closed and a satisfied sigh melted out of her. _“Dee-licious.”_ She swallowed and tossed the peel into the trash, sucking the juice off her fingers one at a time.

Reimu’s eye opened and caught her plate from yesterday, which had been filled with new crackers. A glass full of water now sat next to it. She reached for the glass and tipped it to her lips to test its temperature. Still cold, still fresh. She chugged the whole thing. _“glk-glk-glk-_ aaaaaaaah!” She turned to the Game Boy and picked it up. A folded sheet of paper sat under it, which she unfolded and read.

 _“Saved your game for ya, gave you some fresh batteries, and left you some snacks and a drink.”_ Relieved, Reimu collapsed against her pillow and continued to read with a tired smile. _“Didn’t know when you’d wake up so if there’s something on the table, that’s your lunch. If you wake up before I finish we’ll eat together. If not, I’ll catch ya later. —M”_

Reimu lazily turned her head and saw a bento box lying on the table, her favorite set of chopsticks atop it. Beside the table lay Marisa’s hat, right next to her usual spot. Reimu turned to the kitchen doorway and saw the edge of Marisa’s frilly navy-blue skirt poking past it. Still as stone, Marisa’s back was pressed against the wall with her eyes pegged as far as they’d go toward the other room. On a whim she glanced downward and saw her skirt poking past the doorway, her expression gasped, and she pulled her skirt inside and tucked it behind her leg. On reflex, she reached for her hat to pull it down over her face, but her hat wasn’t there. She looked up, then she smacked her face and snickered into her palm. “khh-hh-hh-hh-hh-hh-hh!”

“Ahnhnhnhnhn!” Reimu covered her mouth to stifle her giggles, but they could hear each other laughing now.

Marisa snickered a wheeze and burst into full-throated laughter. “kHHH-hahahahahaha!”

Reimu clenched her fists and rocked in her seat. “Ahahahahahaha!” She cupped a hand to her mouth and woodenly overacted. **“OH, SHOOT! IF ONLY… MARISA… WERE STILL HERE,”**

Marisa doubled over, cutting her off and shrieking as she cackled. **“AAAAH- _HHHHHAAAAH-HAAAAH-HAAAH!!”_**

Reimu squeezed her stomach with both arms and thwacked her head against her pillow. **_“AAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”_**

Marisa squealed in her throat, **_“DID I LEAVE MY FUCKING HAT IN THERE?”_**

Reimu squealed back, **_“YEEEES~!”_**

Marisa’s fists thudded against the wall. **“Goh-hd damnh-mih-ih-ih-t!!”** She turned into the living room with her hand on her face.

Reimu sprang up, excitedly smiling. “Hey, you!”

Marisa turned down and away, closing her eyes. “Aaaaaah~ I don’ even know what I was goin’ for there I tell ya.” She bobbed her hand in a halfhearted shrug, and hearing footsteps, she opened her eyes and jumped as she saw Reimu with her arms swinging open right on top of her.

Reimu flung her powerful arms around her with a heartfelt smile. “My heroine, you saved me!”

Marisa gasped and hearts that popped like bubbles flowed out in an aura around her, complete with the sound of a harp, as though she were struck in the chest with Cupid’s arrow. Her blushing face had frozen in shock and awe.

Reimu giggled and slid back just enough to face her, hands comfortably dangling from her shoulders. “There you go, poofing out hearts again.” Reimu grinned and poked her chubby cheek.

Marisa’s eyes sharpened with a cocky little smirk and her deep voice smoothed. “That’s ‘cuz love is in the air.” She reached up to Reimu’s cheek and lightly stroked it with her thumb, standing tall with all the confidence of one who’d saved a damsel in distress. “What was I to do, pretty girl headin’ for disaster like that? I followed my heart, ‘n’ it led me to you.” She brushed a lock of hair out of Reimu’s eyes.

Reimu blushed with a chuckle. “Sorry, I just woke up… I’d kiss you, but—”

“Shhhhh,” Marisa softly hushed, touching a finger to Reimu’s lips, which reflexively puckered, and as Reimu awoke to that fact her toffee cheeks blazed. “Don’t you worry ‘bout a thing, you know I got a spell for every occasion, and you’ve seen this one before. I can do more’n just make roses and smells, I can flavor things too. All it takes is a little bit o’ love.”

_Thk._

With that snap of Marisa’s fingers, Reimu felt a cool rush of air in her mouth and the juicy flavor of oranges gushed all over her tongue. She gasped, touching her lips, turning red to her nose.

Marisa slid her arms up Reimu’s chest and along her shoulders, Marisa’s plush warmth squishing into her as she went, a velvet softness that left no space between them at all. “May I?”

A sigh melted from Reimu lips, eyes closing as she turned to mush. “I’m yours.”

Marisa closed her eyes as she rose on her tiptoes and the two of them kissed, lips squishing with tender suckles as they danced a graceful waltz against each other. Eyes slid half-open, and they savored one last pucker, neither willing to be the first to let it end.

Reimu combed her fingers through Marisa’s scruffy hair. “I dunno what you were going for, but you nailed it.”

Marisa brightly beamed. “Sometimes when y’trip over your own feet, y’do a flip!”

Reimu squished Marisa’s chubby cheek as her hand rubbed against it. “Only if you’re really cool.”

Marisa tenderly smiled, her hands sliding down Reimu’s arms. “You inspired me to get there.”

Reimu’s finger gently flicked one of Marisa’s golden curls and it bounced. “You did the work.”

They lovingly gazed into each other’s eyes, the distant shriek of cicadas all that stirred around them.

Reimu looked at the table. “I’m starving.”

Marisa pat her bicep and winked. “Go eat.”

Reimu sat at the table next to Marisa’s hat and popped open the bento box to find a messily arranged lump of rice, pickled vegetables, a dish with soy sauce, and mushrooms stuffed with nori, herbs, and potatoes. “Open the other doors for me, it’s hot and I’m gross and it probably smells like armpits in here.”

Marisa walked to the side door. “Little bit.” She turned back with a wink as she reached it and slid the door aside. “Not that I mind at all.”

A voice squeaked from outside. “HGK-”

Marisa turned and looked, then gasped. It was Sanae, back turned and shivering in place, wearing a plain white tee and capri pants with her sandals. She looked as though she’d been sneaking away, but only made it two steps before the door had opened.

Marisa happily smiled. **“Hey!”**

Sanae slowly turned, her arms huddled around her chest like a T-rex. “Uh—um… is this a… bad time?”

Reimu gasped and leaned over the table to look.

Marisa turned to her, Reimu nodded and beckoned toward herself, and Marisa gave a thumbs-up and turned back to Sanae again. “Not at all, come in!”

Hunched over, Sanae poked her fingers together. “I’m not interrupting…?”

Reimu swallowed a bite of food. “Nope! We weren’t about to have sex or anything. Come in!”

Sanae reddened like a thermometer fit to burst, steam puffing out her ears and hissing as it wafted off her head. “You… _what…?”_

Marisa turned to Reimu, grinning with a hand cupped beside her mouth. “Go easy on ‘er, Reimu, I don’t know if Sanae’s wants to be, uh, _privy_ to that much information.” Marisa winked.

Reimu eyes bulged. “Information?” She glanced away as she winced. “…crap, this is what we talked about, isn’t it?” She lifted another bite to mouth. “Sorry.”

Marisa’s brow twinged as she laughed out her response, shaking her head, “Never change, Reimu.”

Calming but still pink in the face and steaming, Sanae desperately put her hands together with a crooked grin. “Please change a _little_ bit, Reimu.”

Marisa laughed into her clenched hand in shrill wheezing hiccups. “Hahk-hahk-hahk-hahk-hahk!”

Reimu pouted as she put another bite in her mouth and chewed.

Sanae shook her head. “No, look…” She took a deep breath, pinching her fingers under her chest. _“I_ actually came to say sorry.”

Reimu nodded and rested her head in her palm. “Wish I was in better shape, but I’m glad you came. I wanna say sorry too.”

Marisa leaned on the doorframe and looked at the floor. “Yeah. I think I will too.”

Sanae gasped and thrust her head forward. “You!? Why?” Her head gradually shook. “You didn’t do anything.”

Marisa shook her head. “Nah, but I shoulda.” She motioned inward to her with her head. “Come on in and let’s talk.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Describing their laughs is hard but it's also kinda important to me. I hope I'm doing okay.


End file.
